They say February is a terrible month to bird.  I’m not so convinced about that and for me it is a special time in birding as February last year was when I really started to bird.  So all the birds I’m seeing now are the ones I saw for the first time in my life for the most part last year.

Imagine if you had never seen one of the beautiful winter ducks in your life.  Or even an Eider in winter plumage.  Imagine if you had never considered there were ducks anywhere other than the place where the ones your Dad took you when you were a kid to throw bread to were, let alone in the winter.  Well that was me a year ago.  It was all new and it never occurred to me to look at the ocean with a pair of binoculars and look for ducks.  And they are pretty oh my they are a sight to behold.  Behold our lovely Long-tailed Ducks, Common Goldeneyes, Mergansers, Buffleheads, Harlequin Ducks, just to name some of the more spectacular winter fowl.

This all followed very quickly after my indoctrination into birding as the superstar Eurasian Kestrel was hanging out not far from where I live.  One day in January kind folk with field guides helped me learn the difference between the Kestrel, Northern Harrier, and the Rough-legged Hawks all of which were putting on good shows daily at Hartlen Point last winter.  The Snowy Owls I could at least recognize myself  😉

So I got hooked, and it was cold oh gosh it was cold.  And I couldn’t go too far with all the nasty weather so I started bundling up and walking places close to home like Rainbow Haven (and David Currie took me there to see our wintering Yellow-rumped Warblers), the Salt Marsh Trail, the Shearwater Flyer Trail, and Hartlen Point and really all I saw were the winter ducks.  One day I was about a half hour onto the trail in the freezing cold and near froze my hands off to photograph a pair of Hooded Mergansers in fact.  And I’d do it again.  And I am doing it again, but thankfully this winter has been much tamer.

Today it was a gift of a day sunny and warm and kelp flies in full force and I thought maybe if I zipped down to Hartlen Point I would find some Horned Larks as they do come in the winter and they do like the kelp flies.

The first bird I saw was the Rough-legged Hawk which is amazing as I’ve not seen one yet this year and really been hoping to.   And the coolest thing is this makes bird number 100 for my winter list.  And the other really neat thing is I would never have kept a winter list if it were not for bumping into Richard Stern some time ago who mentioned I should see if I can get 100.  And the thing is, Richard is the Raptor man so I think this is very fitting.

Birding serendipity is really my thing and I had a strong urge to walk around Hartlen today that I could not shake.  I had been invited to bird elsewhere but passed it up and now I know why.

See…you just never know what you might find when you are looking for things with wings.

The Rough-legged Hawk put on a great show for me pretty much the whole 3 hours I was there and tonight I am still smiling.

I had been trying to get Patches the Lesser Black-backed Gull for my 100^th bird but I think mother nature is letting me know I am not meant to bird in parking lots.  We know this anyway, right?

Well I’m sure I’ll get back to the parking lot to look for Patches, but nothing beats a long walk in the sunshine on a winter day with an old friend flying above you.

Happy February,

Angela

PS – here is a much better photo of a Rough-legged I took on March 14th, 2015

This week I’m in Cape Breton to see pet shops and to see my family so making time for birding of course.  Cape Breton is a very birdy place although the birds are under-reported that does not mean they aren’t here.  To me it seems much “birdier” than the mainland.

The drive down from Halifax on Tuesday included a few pet shop visits on the way to Sydney so didn’t leave much time for birding but I did manage to check out some sea ducks on the Cape Breton side of the Causeway.  First Common Mergansers I’ve seen this year and in good numbers, along with the other usual suspects.

Wednesday was tied up all day with pet shops and some of today, but I did manage to sneak out for a bit this afternoon in search of a Tufted Duck which was spotted by David McCorquodale earlier this week.

This is a new to me bird (Nova Scotia lifer 181 for me) so I’ve been hoping to spot one for a while now and I’ve been on the lookout in Halifax so when I saw it was a short drive from my folk’s place I had to give it a shot.

Much like the where’s Waldo puzzle of trying to find a Cackling Goose in the midst of a flock of Canada Geese I had to pick through a few rafts of Scaup (I believe they were mostly Greater Scaup but not certain) to find the Tufted Duck.  Admittedly it was easier as there were a much smaller number of Scaup then the group of Canada Geese and the Tufted Duck is much more identifiable then a Cackling Goose.  Still, it took me a good hour.  Partially because I didn’t realize there were several rafts of Scaup to find and also because I was afraid I may have difficulty recognizing the Tufted Duck.

Actually it was challenging to pick him out because I don’t have a scope but the zoom on my camera goes up to 200x so after some time of scanning the groups I saw his long hair blowing in the wind.  My photos leave a lot to be desired but with my eyes it was quite a sight to behold.  I was just over the moon to find him I’m sure the fishermen thought I was a fool since I shouted out got him!

This spot is a bit of a duck haven as there were a large group of American Wigeons with one Eurasian male mixed in.  He was swimming up to different clusters of Americans and even to the gulls crying out “are you like me?”…I’m certain that was what he was doing.

Also tons of Bufflehead ducks, and of course a variety of gulls and Black Ducks.  And just for good measure one of my dear little Long-tailed Ducks was hanging around and a couple of Savannah Sparrows.

Don’t forget that Glace Bay is home to a bird sanctuary and near Donkin, Port Morien, and Louisbourg.  All very wonderful sea bird territory and a great reason to take a break outside any time I say.

On another note on the way to my next pet shop I dropped by quickly to check in on the Barrow’s Goldeneye ducks as I had spotted 14 there in November.  The sun was going down so I don’t know if was a mix of Common and Barrow’s or all Barrow’s but some were certainly Barrow’s and there appeared to be about 30 in the group.  If I get time before I leave the island I will try to look again, or check with David McCorquodale about it.

Anyway, if you have time to visit the greater Sydney area to bird I would recommend it highly and there a number of nice new restaurants and coffee shops around.  If the storm doesn’t ruin my plans tomorrow evening I do hope to get to Flavor on the Water for a burger with friends.   Try to do something in each town you visit that helps their local economy like the big list man, Noah, says.  Me I’m never going to do a big list, but I am a foodie so I am down with that.

Happy Birding from Cape Breton.